


unconditionally and irrevocably

by knightofcauldrons



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: -batman voice- co captain of the friendship ship, 5+1 Things, Domestic, F/F, Fluff, Friendship, Lesbians in Space, Marriage, Space Wives, Weddings, but like. with zero planning. youll see, i also love that thats a tag already, i am also but a simple amorous aro with simple needs, i love that thats a tag already, so this fic is also about fucking, while this may be a fic about buddy/vespa's romantic relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-23
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2020-09-01 06:04:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20253373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knightofcauldrons/pseuds/knightofcauldrons
Summary: According to Rita, Buddy and Vespa Aurinko are married.According to Buddy Aurinko and Vespa I, they’ve never had the time to get married.There are two obvious solutions; Either tell Rita that they’re not married, or just let her believe that they are.Or, the third option; Get actually married.AKA; Five times Rita said that Buddy and Vespa were married, and the one time she was correct.





	1. Chapter 1

1.

Something you should know about Rita, is that she's very used to being the shortest person in the room. Rita is a solid five foot tall, which means that she’s found very creative ways to get what she wants from high places.

And sometimes, as a woman at five-foot-nothing, she needs to precariously balance on a stool on her tip-toes in order to get some salmon snacks from the top shelf. Which is perfectly fine. The space ship sails smoothly, anyways.

“Rita!" a voice suddenly says. "My dear, do you need some help?” 

Rita, who is concentrating very hard on retrieving her salmon snacks, is _not_ ready for a person’s voice to snap her out of her focus. 

That is to say, she's caught off guard. And Rita, not for the first time, finds herself falling.

It’s also not the first time she’s ever fallen into someone’s arms (and a certain Juno Steel can attest to that.)

Rita looks up at her savior, seeing the concerned face of Buddy Aurinko.

Rita giggles a little. “Aw, you caught me!”

“Yes, I- Rita, that could’ve been quite the fall! You could’ve just _asked_ someone to reach the top shelf for you, darling,” said Buddy, carefully setting Rita on her feet. 

Rita supposes that that's true. But back in Hyperion, Rita only had _Juno_ to help her, and Juno isn't especially tall- He's a little shorter than average, much to his dismay. 

Rita may have been the shortest on the ship, but Juno was second-shortest, and Vespa was just a good inch or two taller than Juno, so they wouldn't have been much help. But Buddy was tall and willowy and lanky, similar to that Mistah Glass-Sims-Whoever guy, who was himself a tad bit taller than Buddy. And then there was Jet, who towered over all of them. So, Rita supposes that she could’ve just asked one of 'em to help, instead of clambering onto a stool.

“Yeah, I guess,” Rita says to Buddy. “I was just gettin’ my salmon snacks! And I _totally_ could’ve gotten ‘em, anyways, cuz I’ve had a lot of practice tryna stand on stools, since I’m just really short, y’know, and Juno’s not really much help cuz while he may be taller than me he’s still a shortie- He can’t even reach the top shelf most’a the time!”

Buddy laughed a little at that. “That doesn’t surprise me,” she said, standing on her tip-toes a little and reaching for Rita’s salmon snacks. “Here you are, Rita.”

“Aw!” says Rita. “Thank ya, Misses Aurinko!”

“Oh, please just call me Buddy, dear.” Buddy then tilts her head a little. “_Misses_?” 

“Yeah?” says Rita. 

“Why _Misses_?”

“..Cuz you’re married?”

“I-”

“To Vespa, obviously!”

Buddy chokes at that.

“Wha- Darling, I’m not-”

“Anyways!” says Rita, having not heard her. “Thank ya, Misses Buddy! Want one?” Rita gestures the now open bag of snacks to her.

“Oh, I’m fine, dear. Thank you for the offer. Rita, you do know that I’m-”

“Oh shoot, I forgot my favorite stream’s on right now! I’ll catch ya later, Misses Buddy! Thanks again!” And then Rita darts off like a bolt of lightning.

Buddy stands a little stunned, then sighs. The fact that Rita thinks her and Vespa are married isn't actually very surprising. 

_Married_. The thought makes Buddy’s heart do something funny.

Buddy and Vespa don’t _need_ some frilly certificate to solidify their love- They’ve been through thick and thin, through loss and grief, through prison breaks and radiation poisoning and close-calls, and no ceremony, no matter how fancy, can encapture all that. Neither Buddy nor Vespa would want a big fancy ceremony, anyways- Not really their thing. 

But Buddy can’t stop thinking about one day calling Vespa her _wife_.

Buddy shakes her head. She’s not a wedding person, but _wife_ sure does sound nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the main reason this fic exists is because i wrote just a smidgen of buddy/vespa in the last tpp fic i posted, and then sort of realized "oh shit. i actually REALLY like writing buddy/vespa stuff i should like. do that more." and so i did
> 
> anyways, this first chapter is rlly short, but ah. short chapters are kinda A Thing for me i guess. 
> 
> stay tuned for space lesbian fluff and domesticity
> 
> comments are as always greatly appreciated!!


	2. Chapter 2

So, Vespa really likes Rita. How could she not? Rita’s just way too lovable. And Vespa notices how Juno always looks so proud whenever the rest of the crew show their appreciation for her. “It’s what she deserves,” Juno had said to her once. “People in Hyperion didn’t really.. _Get_ her, I guess. Hell, _I_ hadn’t fully appreciated her when I first met her. But she’s, uh.. She’s kinda amazing.”

Basically, the whole crew would die for Rita, and that definitely includes Vespa. 

“Hey, Misses Vespa! Oh, what’s that?” 

“Uh- Uh, this is a music box. It’s an old Earth thing,” Vespa explains. 

“Oh,” says Rita, plopping into the seat across from Vespa. “So what’s it do?”

“If you wind it up, it plays music,” she tells her. 

“A whole box _just_ for playin’ music? My _comms_ can do that, _and_ it can play streams, and a lot of other stuff!” 

“And the music box only plays one song,” added Vespa. 

“That seems pretty borin’,” said Rita. She reached across the table to pick up the small music box. “Though, it _is_ pretty cute! Real tiny, too.”

“The novelty is kinda the appeal,” Vespa tells her. “Doesn’t work, though,” Vespa adds, and then Rita frowns and starts winding it up it just to confirm.

“Are you tryna fix it, then?” Rita asks her, giving the music box back when it doesn’t play any music. Vespa nods in confirmation.

“Yeah, I am. It’s just something to pass the time, y'know?”

“Oh, I usually just watch and rewatch streams to pass the time. You could watch some with me!” Something in Rita’s eyes light up. “_OH_, we could _all_ watch streams together, Misses Vespa!” She gasps excitedly. “We could have _movie nights_! Gosh, there’s _so_ many streams I wanna watch with you guys! And with Mistah Steel, too, even though he’s already seen ‘em all.” 

“That… That sounds really nice, Rita,” Vespa says, as it occurs to her she’s never had a _movie night_ before.

“Oh- We could have _game nights_, too! I used t’ have 'em with Mistah Steel, but it never felt like a fair game cuz Mistah Steel’s _really bad at party games_!” Rita mischievously whispers the last part like it's some kind of scandalous secret and it makes Vespa smile. 

“I’ll keep that in mind when game night happens,” Vespa said, metaphorically patting herself on the back when Rita grins. 

Rita turns her attention back to the music box. 

“Do ya know what song it plays?” Rita asked, pointing at the box. Vespa shrugged.

“Dunno,” she said. “We’ll find out when it gets fixed, I guess. ..You and me can be the first ones to hear it, if you want.”

Rita _beams_ at that. “Aw, I’d really love that, Misses! Thanks, Misses Vespa!” 

“No problem,” Vespa said. 

“Y’know, I think music boxes are kinda romantic, I think I saw that on a stream once! So Buddy might like it,” Rita said, swinging her legs underneath the table, “might be a good _anniversary_ gift!”

“Anniversary?” 

“Marriage anniversary,” Rita clarified. 

Vespa thinks she might've flat-lined when Rita says that. 

“..Right," she croaks out. "I-I’m not- Rita, the two of us- Me and Buddy, we aren’t- We aren’t married,” she finally manages to say. 

Rita blinked at her.

“You’re not?” 

“..No?” 

“Huh.” Rita paused. “Are you _sure_?” 

“I’m _pretty_ sure, Rita.”

“..Are you _suuuuuuure_?” 

“Yes, Rita.”

Rita still looked unconvinced. “So you’re _not_ Misses Buddy’s wife?” 

“I-I mean, I guess I’d like to be,” Vespa admitted. “I’m not really one for wedding’s though. Too.. Too _big_, y’know?”

Rita shrugged a little. “I guess,” she said. “..I don’t really think you need a _wedding_ to be married though, right?” 

“Rita, I think that’s the whole point of a wedding.”

“_Nahh_,” says Rita. “Just because you haven’t had a wedding doesn’t mean you’re not married. I think that the only thing you need to be married, is just t’ love each other, unconditionally and irrevocably! More of a... A _state o’ mind_, y’know? And you two are _definitely_ in a married state o’ mind, you two friggin’ _radiate_ your love for each other! It’s real adorable, actually! You two kinda just.. _Love_ each other- Unconditionally and irrevocably.”

Vespa found herself weirdly choked up.

“_Right_,” Vespa said. 

“..Did I use those words correctly? They’re real big words an’ I’m not a real wordy person,” Rita said. 

“You- You used them good, Rita,” said Vespa. “You used them good. You’re, uh. You’re certainly wordier than you think, Rita.” 

RIta grinned. “Thanks, Misses Vespa!” 

“You can just call me Vespa.” 

“Alright. No problem, Misses Vespa! Have fun with your music box, I’m gonna go see what Mistah Steel’s doin’.”

And then she got up, skipping away happily, leaving Vespa to stare off into a corner of (literal) space. 

_Marriage_, she thought. _Huh_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ALAS! I come back from the dead to bring you more lesbian crime wives (in space)!! except only one of the lesbian crime wives (in space) is present in this chapter, but shhh. 
> 
> anyways, this chapter is coming out super late because highschool and Procrastination happened, lol. im a highschool freshman now, so theres that. (catch me editing this chapter instead of writing my essay for pre-ap)
> 
> anyways, hope you liked this!! comments are greatly appreciated!! :)


End file.
